Off the Menu: Cell phones impact restaurants

A sign at the Hamilton Street Cafe in Albany advises customers about cell phone policy at the restaurant, AP photo/ Mike Groll

With more than half of us now tethered to a smartphone, the personal information appliance has become entrenched in everyday life. Whether it's on the road, on the supermarket, or just walking down the street, we all seem to be "at one" with our held-held devices.

Recent news reports described some of the impacts that smartphone use is having on the restaurant world.

A story in the Wall Street Journal, reported that consumers seem to be adjusting their discretionary spending to offset the increasing cost of smartphone service, which now averages over $1,200 per handheld device annually.

To fund that expense, smartphone owners report cutting back on food and entertainment spending, a response that's definitely bad news for restaurants.

Smarthphones have also introduced a new public decorum debate surrounding the way such technology is used in restaurant settings.

In addition to taking calls and chatting on their phones, diners are increasingly snapping pictures of their meals to post on social media sites like Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest.

Restaurant owners aren't just concerned about the dining room distractions such behavior produces, either. A number have discovered unflattering, even fraudulent photos of their food posted on line. A few restaurateurs even complain that customers are becoming amateur paparazzi, snapping pictures or taking video of restaurant surroundings and employees without permission.

Some operators are embracing these "sharing" trends, seeing them as free publicity, but others in the business are still searching for strategies to discourage the use of handheld devices.

However, as that technology becomes even more pervasive, limiting smartphone use in restaurants may well prove to be a losing battle.